Love Is Blind
by Hope Swings
Summary: I was probably the only person in the world who didn't know who he was. But that didn't matter because I fell in love with him anyway: the mysterious man who stumbled into my taxi that fateful day.
1. Chapter 1

**Love Is Blind**

**Chapter One**

"_Please fasten your seatbelts and return your seats to the correct upright position. We would like to thank you in advance for flying with us today on Northwest Airlines. We hope you choose to fly with us again in the future. Thank you."_

There was a click as the stewardess replaced the intercom microphone. Everyone in the airplane went about sitting up and fastening seatbelts. The young missionary did the same but immediately returned to her book. She'd been in the air for more than twelve hours and she was finally going home.

The plane touched ground a few minutes later and she gathered up all of her carry-on luggage before departing the plane with the other passengers. She stepped into the terminal and headed straight for baggage claim. All around her, family members were hugging and embracing with huge smiles and bright exclamations or drivers holding signs were escorting new arrivals to their cars. She had no one waiting for her. Everyone she knew and loved were back in the small village in Kenya that she'd made her home for nearly her whole life. All that was waiting for her here was a large empty house and a few money-grabbing lawyers. And she wasn't expected to arrive for a few more days.

Out on the street, she hailed a cab and politely told the driver where she was headed. The older man smiled back at her through the rearview mirror as she stared at the buildings and people swarming the streets.

"First time in the big city, ma'am?"

She nodded slightly. "Well, sort of. I haven't been here since I was a baby. I was born here and my parents used to live here for years."

"Where've you been all this time, if you don't mind my asking."

"I've been living in Kenya for years in a small village. My grandparents were missionaries."

The cabby nodded and turned back to the road. The young woman continued to stare out the window in awe. Finally, the cabby turned back to her at a stoplight.

"So, why are you back here after so many years? And headed for the Higurashi Mansion?"

"Oh, my grandmother died a few months ago and I have to settle a few financial problems."

"And the mansion?"

"Some stuck-up lawyers want to sell it. And that's only because they haven't seen a will. But it just took a while to find it is all."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The mansion's supposed to stay in the family, not be sold to the highest bidder."

"So, you own the Higurashi Mansion?"

"No, my grandmother did. But it's been empty for a long time since she and my grandfather felt called to bring God to those less fortunate. So we packed up and left. I want nothing to do with it; my home is in Kenya."

"What's your name, Miss?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. That was rude of me. I'm Kagome Higurashi."

All conversation was halted as they hit rush hour traffic. Kagome just returned to staring out the window at the tall buildings and bright lights of New York. It was so different from the small huts and landscape of the muggy Kenyan wilderness.

Further up the street, a huge award ceremony was being held for the rich and famous. It had spilled into the street to accommodate the huge crowds, thus creating a five-block long traffic jam. Cars honked and drivers cursed and swore at each other while celebrities ignored the commotion around them, smiling and preening at photographers and fans.

Kagome's cab inched along slowly with the rest of the flow of cars. Policemen were everywhere, trying to control and maintain traffic and drivers. The young woman just watched all of this with interest, especially when it started to rain. The whole scene reminded her of damp chickens running around with their heads cut off. She couldn't help but giggle softly at the whole affair.

They finally reached the source of the jam and the cabby groaned. Kagome just pressed her face to the window to see everything better. She'd never sat on the cusp of witnessing something this huge and extravagant. Heck, she'd never seen a celebrity before. Just as they were about to inch forward again and clear the roadblocks set up, there was a commotion on the edge of the large crowd and the back door to the taxi was wrenched open. Kagome stared wide eyed as a young man with long silver hair in a tuxedo slid into the seat next to her and gruffly told the cabby to step on it.

The yellow cab sped off with yelling reporters, policemen, and PR people in their wake. The young man stared out his window, ignoring Kagome's presence completely. Kagome continued to stare at the stranger while the cab driver whistled softly and kept driving to the Higurashi Mansion.

"Um, excuse me?" Kagome said meekly when she snapped out of her daze. The man seemed to not hear her so she spoke a little louder. "Excuse me?"

"What do you want, bitch?"

The man spun around in his seat to glare at her. Kagome leaned back in surprise. No one had ever spoken to her like that before… and boy, oh boy he had gorgeous eyes. Smoldering amber locked with sparkling blue and time itself seemed to pause with bated breath. But the moment ended as quickly as it began when the man turned irritated to the cabby.

"Where the heck are we going?" he demanded with a snarl.

"Higurashi Mansion."

That stopped him in his tracks as he stared at the back of the cabby's head. Kagome just stared at the side of his face. The cabby kept his eyes on the road as he swerved around another car and into a new lane. Silence filled the taxi and the cabby smiled to himself. This was certainly turning out to be a very interesting day.

After a few minutes, the young man turned to stare out the window and sulk. Kagome just shrugged and struck up a conversation with the cabby.

"So, how long have you been driving a taxi?"

As she talked animatedly, she was oblivious to the glances the young man beside her kept sneaking. He was actually fairly confused. The cabby probably already knew who he was after the first few minutes, but this girl acted like he was just a regular person. Where'd she been for the past few years – Kenya?

X

"Miroku, where the heck did he run off to? I mean, how did he slip away so easily? There are over two thousand people watching his every move right now! Not to mention everyone at home! He's not Houdini!"

"Hey, Sango, you never know. They could be distantly related… somehow…"

Sango turned to pin him with a heated glare. Her dark-haired companion just whistled innocently, his hands in his pockets as he stared up at the golden scaffoldings. With a frustrated huff, she smacked him in the chest with her handbag and stomped off. Stumbling back from her blow, Miroku scrambled to catch up with her.

"Sango! Wait up!"

Outside, the chief of police and a stately talent agent stood surrounded by members of the media giving an impromptu press conference. Microphones were shoved in his face and questions shot back and forth. The chief of police looked completely flustered and red in the face. The talent agent just gazed about him calmly and with an icy stare that the reporters nearly shied away from. The well-dressed man almost smirked quietly to himself.

"Sir, sir! Where is Inuyasha? Do you know where he went?"

"Is he taking a vacation?"

"Is there some woman involved?"

"Are they secretly eloping?"

"Will he be able to receive his awards tonight?"

"Is he receiving any awards tonight?"

"Does he like the color purple?"

The agent held up his hands for silence. The mob of reporters quieted immediately.

"At the moment, we are just as confused and worried as you are. The police are at this very moment tracking him down and we hope to know his whereabouts by later tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest. If you would be so kind as to hold all of your questions until Officer McGuiness is through speaking and filling us in on the situation, they will all be answered in due time to the best of our knowledge. Thank you."

He turned to leave and the flashing of light bulbs went off rapidly behind him. The reporters screamed questions at his back, clawing and scrambling over each other to get to the red-faced police chief. This time he really did smirk. 'Like a sheep to the slaughter.'

"Kagura," he murmured to his ever-present assistant. "Find him."

The woman just nodded and slipped away. His other two workers and the assistants to his client, Inuyasha Taisho, came out of the regal building. Nodding slightly to them, he entered through the front door, the two following closely behind. They were the best in their field and combined with Kagura's expertise in her own field, they'd find him in no time. Behind him, the two personal assistants exchanged quick, worried glances. This wouldn't turn out well for anyone.

X

"Okay, so let me get this straight. You are just a regular taxi cab driver," the cabby nodded in the affirmative. "And you are the heiress to the Higurashi Estate?"

Kagome just rolled her eyes. Could this guy get any weirder?

"Well, I sure do hope so. Otherwise I wasted all this time to get here," she replied sarcastically. "Who are you anyway, Mr. High-and-Mighty?"

"I can't believe this! You don't know who I am?"

"Uh, some guy who enjoys dressing up in formal attire on rainy days?" she guessed flatly.

"Hey, I didn't know it was going to rain today!" he said defensively.

Kagome just stared at him blandly. It took a few minutes before he finally grasped her words. Then he sputtered around for a few more minutes. Kagome just stared out the window.

"Hey, Benny?" She called after a while. "Are we almost there?"

"Just a few more minutes, Miss Kagome."

"Great thanks."

She smiled brightly at him through the rearview mirror. The old cabby was a really sweet and caring person. The guy beside her, on the other hand… well, she could do without him.

Glancing at the window, Kagome studied two trails of water on the glass pane as they raced down to the bottom, merging with other trails and increasing in size. She smiled softly to herself and lightly touched the glass. The cold seeped into her fingertips and a hazy rim of fog outlined her fingers. Her eyes traveled up to the gray, overcast sky, imagining designs in the bottom-heavy rain clouds overhead.

"Oi, what're you doing?" her unplanned companion grunted, breaking her away from her daydreaming.

She jumped at his gruff voice so close to her ear and whirled around, wide-eyed. He had scooted over beside her and leaned over her shoulder to see what she was staring at. Now they were nose to nose and leaning towards each other, her 'taxi buddy' precariously close to toppling over on top of her. Kagome's breath caught in her throat and she was unable to move a muscle. The silver-haired young man gulped and stared down his nose at her slightly parted lips and even further downward. The tension in the backseat of the cab escalated as the seconds ticked by.

Just then, the taxi came to a sudden halt, throwing the two passengers off balance even more. The young man ended up sprawled across her lap and Kagome flew forward, kept from crashing face-first into the front passenger seat in front of her and onto the floor only by her seatbelt. She was jerked back into the seat forcefully and banged the back of her head on the headrest painfully. Groaning, she glanced up at Benny who was looking back at the two expectantly.

"We're here, Miss Kagome," he said with a smile.

"Oh, um, okay, thanks," she said, blood rushing to her cheeks all of a sudden.

Kagome scrabbled at her seat belt, quickly unfastening it and springing for the door. The young, tuxedo-clad man had ended up on the floor and stared up at her dazedly, bringing a hand up to his head. Kagome leaped out of the taxi and stood on the sidewalk with the door swinging on its hinges as she stared up at the huge house. He got out as well and stood next to her. Benny hopped out and retrieved her bags from thee trunk and set them down on the sidewalk.

"Well, good luck Miss Kagome," he said kindly, stepping back into the taxi and settling behind the wheel.

Kagome jumped and whirled back around, digging around in her purse for money.

"How much do I owe you, Benny?" she asked distractedly, her head bowed and nearly shoved into her bag.

"Thirty-seven ninety-eight."

"Um… there's forty. Thanks so much, Benny. I really appreciate it."

The middle-aged cabby just waved it off, accepting the bills with a wide smile. He nodded to the young mystery man before waving and driving off. Kagome smiled and waved after him. When she turned around, she started at the sight of the young man, forgetting that he had gotten out of the cab with her. He just looked back at her in expectation, hands in pockets.

"So, we gonna go inside or what?" he said passively, jerking his head at the grounds of the mansion.

Kagome nodded dazedly, picking up her bags and heading up the walkway and up the steps. The young man followed after her easily, looking around indifferently. They arrived at the front door and Kagome pulled a single key from her purse and unlocked the door, stepping inside for the first time in over eighteen years, a strange young man right on her heels.

X

Sango Hasigawa and Miroku Koji entered the state-of-the-art penthouse tiredly and collapsed on the black leather couch side by side. Miroku's head lolled to the side to stare at the woman beside him and smiled slightly. Sango just stared up at the ceiling. Miroku's hand crept slowly across the cushioned surface and took hold of Sango's smaller one, squeezing slightly. Sango just sighed and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"What do you want, Miroku?" she said flatly after a while.

"Nothing, just to bask in your heavenly presence, Lady Sango," he replied cheekily.

"We work together, Koji, that's all. There'll never be anything between us."

"You never know, Lady Sango. Fate has a funny way of disregarding your expectations."

Sango just rolled her eyes and sat up. "Come on, we have a job to do."

Miroku groaned but sat up as well, shuffling into the kitchen to invade his employer's privacy. Sango watched him go with a frown before sighing and moving to the young celebrity's bedroom to do the same. They would find Inuyasha, no matter how hard they had to look. Their careers depended on it.

A few hours later, the two hadn't found anything that would prompt or allude to his disappearance. The penthouse had been upturned and still, they weren't any closer to finding Inuyasha. Sango had flopped down onto the couch again in defeat. Miroku glanced down at her and scrubbed wearily at his face. Picking up the phone, he was about to call Naraku and tell him they couldn't find anything and they had no idea where he could be. But then the small screen on the phone caught his eye. '3 unread messages.'

"Hey, Sango?"

"Hm, what?"

"Does Inuyasha have a call-in answering machine?"

Sango sat up and stared at her partner suspiciously. "Um, yeah, why?"

"I think I just stumbled upon a clue."

X

The two walked around the giant house amiably. Neither had any idea where anything was since Kagome hadn't been there since she was a baby and the young man had never been there period. Thinking about that as she stuck her head into yet another empty, dusty room, Kagome turned to her companion thoughtfully.

"You know, you still haven't told me who you are."

The young man turned to her from further down the hall where he was inspecting an ancient vase. At his blank expression, Kagome just crossed her arms across her chest and tapped her foot expectantly.

"Uh… why do you need to know?" he said flippantly, turning back around and strolling down the hall.

Kagome rushed to catch up with him and jerked him around to face her. Sure, she was shorter than he was and his well-toned form was apparent through his tuxedo, but she didn't care. She'd stood up to people just like him before.

"Because, this is my house and I don't know if I can trust you or not! Plus, I could easily throw you out," she said indignantly.

The mystery man just smirked and kept on walking. Kagome glared at his back for a moment before calling out again.

"Fine, but at least tell me your name so that I don't have to call you weird names. Like… I don't know, Aquaman, or something!"

'Aquaman' turned around and cocked an eyebrow. "Aquaman?"

Kagome nodded her head resolutely. "Yes, Aquaman."

He just shrugged and continued down the hall. "Okay."

Sighing in exasperation, Kagome raced after him. "Come _on_! Just tell me your name!"

"Aquaman."

"That is _not_ your name!"

"Now it is."

"No, it's not! I take it back! Now what's your name?"

And so it went for the rest of the evening. If he continued to stay there, Kagome had a feeling they would be acting like this the whole time…

"Good night, No Name!"

"'Night heiress!"

Kagome screamed into her pillow in frustration. This was going to be a _long_ few days until she went back to Kenya…

E

_Um, I was planning on doing a little mini-series type thing like this for a while. But I envisioned it completely different. Although I like it much better like this. It's not going to be a really long story, I don't think – maybe five chapters or something. Well, I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter. Until next time! – Hope Swings._

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Inuyasha_ or any of the characters or ideas belonging to Rumiko Takahashi._


	2. Chapter 2

**Love Is Blind**

**Chapter Two**

The morning air was clean and fresh after the rain from the previous day and the sun was shining brightly over the New York skyline. Birds twittered and swooped outside the windows of the newly inhabited Higurashi Mansion where two young people slept soundly in their beds. Well, one of them slept soundly in her bed. The other, was up and scouring the cupboards for something worth eating.

The young man, still dressed in his tuxedo pants and shirt, threw the cupboard doors shut with an angry growl. Nothing. How could such a huge mansion not have any instant Ramen? This place was famous and one of the biggest and wealthiest mansions in all of New York and yet there was no sign of Ramen being within its walls ever! Plopping down on a stool beneath the high granite counter, he let his head drop into his hands as he bemoaned his empty stomach.

"'Morning!" the cheery voice of his 'host' rang out from the doorway.

Kagome walked in with a loud, jaw-popping yawn. He didn't even look up. Kagome frown and padded over to his prone figure, laying a hand on his back, right over his left shoulder blade. He shuddered slightly at her feather-light touch but she didn't notice.

"Hey, you okay?"

He just glared at her from between his fingers. Kagome seemed to not notice. Concern was etched in her face, drawing her forehead taught in a frown. Pretending to not care, he shrugged off her hand and slouched forward even further.

"Why do you care?"

Kagome shrugged, slipping onto the stool beside him. "I don't know… Hey, are you going to tell me your name today?"

He just glared at her. She raised her eyebrows and stood up, walking over to the refrigerator.

"O-kay… So, how about some breakfast?"

He didn't answer. Kagome shrugged and pulled various ingredients from the large, steel contraption. She set about making food, humming softly to herself and dancing across the tiled floor. She didn't even notice when he looked up from his hunched position and stared at her.

After a few minutes, she slid an omelet onto a plate and set it in front of him with a glass of orange juice and returned to cooking, not paying him any attention. He stared at it for a while before tentatively picking up his fork and prodding it lightly.

"It's not going to spring up and bite you, you know."

He looked up guiltily at her laughing voice. She stood in front of the stove, hands on hips and smiling at his antics. She cocked an eyebrow at him expectantly and he glanced down at his plate. Finally, he cut off a corner with the side of his fork and put it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.

"Well?"

"Not bad," he said around another mouthful. "But not as good as Ramen."

The grin she'd acquired when he approved her cooking quickly slipped off of her face as soon as the second part to his comment left his lips. He just continued to devour the fluffy egg omelet obliviously, not even noticing her change in attitude. Sighing and shaking her head, Kagome returned to her cooking. Some people were just hopeless…

X

The two personal assistants leaned over the phone with bated breath. This phone could possibly hold the answer to where the missing celebrity was…

"_First new message_," the electronic voice of the message service droned.

"_Hey, Inuyasha, this is Yura. We have an appointment for Thursday before the Award Ceremony. I can't wait to see you again, Inu-baby! Ciao!_"

Sango pressed a button to erase the message with a scowl. She'd always hated the creepy hair lady…

"_Next new message_."

"_Hey, Yash, man have I got something to tell you!_"

Miroku's voice came from the speaker. With a yelp, he punched the erase button before Sango could hear anything else. She, in turn, gave him an annoyed look.

"Tell him what?" she asked in a deadly calm voice.

"Eheh, nothing, Lady Sango," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck and looking anywhere but his partner.

Sango just shot him a look before rolling her eyes. "Whatever, Koji."

"_Next new message._"

"_Hello, Mr. Taisho,_" an unfamiliar voice said calmly. "_This is Brian Marina from St. Sebastian's Hospital downtown. We regret to inform you that Izayoi Taisho passed away on August 17. We send our regrets and condolences to you and your family._"

"_End of messages. There are no more messages. To repeat this message please press-_"

Sango turned off the phone and sat down heavily on the leather couch. She glanced up at Miroku sadly. Her partner just stood there in shock. Sighing, she pulled him down beside her and both stared at the white wall in front of them and the black TV screen that was mounted on it in silence.

"Well," she said after a few minutes. "Now we know why Inuyasha ran off so suddenly."

Miroku just nodded. Sango stared down at the phone in her hand. Inuyasha and his mother had been very close. She was the only one who had encouraged and accepted her son and was his only living relative, well, except for his half-brother, but he didn't count. When she had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, Inuyasha had almost quit acting right then and there. But Izayoi had insisted that he live out his dreams despite what happened to her. Now that she was gone forever, he had no one left. The two understood the gravity of his situation; they'd been working for him for years and had come to love the kind woman like their own mother. But now they had to drag him back despite what had happened and they were not looking forward to it at all.

X

"Okay, um, favorite color?"

"Easy, red. Favorite position."

"…Excuse me?"

"You heard me – favorite position."

"I don't even know what that _means_!"

No Name, as Kagome had decided to call him, stared at Kagome unconvinced. She winced and looked away. Why did he have to keep making her feel stupid with all of his questions?

"So, you mean to tell me that you honestly have no idea or comprehension for _sexual positions_ or anything else that any normal, single, healthy twenty-five-year-old person would know every fucking thing about?" he said in disbelief.

Kagome winced again at his language and shook her head.

"Where have you been?"

"Um, Kenya."

"Don't tell me they don't have sex out there!"

"They do, but I wasn't out on the plains of Africa with my _grandparents_ to have sex or anything. We were _missionaries_!"

"But that doesn't mean you can't have a little fun like a normal adult or even teenager!"

"Well, I don't believe in sex before marriage! I haven't even been kissed yet!"

Throughout their whole argument, they'd gotten closer and closer, leaning over the kitchen table as their voices escalated. But as soon as those words left her lips, everything came to a sudden halt. Neither of them spoke or made a sound as they stood over the table, nose to nose like the previous night in the taxi. Their chests heaved from their heavy breathing and racing hearts as they stood staring into the other's wide eyes.

Kagome was the first one to move, noticing their close proximity and quickly jerking back, a dark blush coloring her cheeks. No Name stepped away from the table as well, still staring at her. Kagome broke eye contact and looked out the window. They'd been playing 'Twenty Questions' for hours now and she still didn't know his name or anything significant about him. He, on the other hand, had practically gotten her to spill her whole life's story in just an hour.

Sighing, Kagome glanced back in his direction. He was still watching her intently. Quietly blowing a stream of air out through her lips, she turned and walked out into the large back yard. His intense gaze was starting to unnerve her and she needed to be alone for a while. He'd be fine in the house without her.

Walking across the grassy meadow that led to the small forest that was part of the expansive property, she watched her shadow stretch out in front of her. It was bordering on late afternoon and she'd have to return in a few hours to make dinner for the incompetent stranger, but for now, she had all the time in the world to just wander.

X

Inside, No Name watched her go. He didn't know why, but he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Sure, she was pretty, but throughout his life and career, he'd seen and dated many stunning beauties that far surpassed her in looks. And she was so annoying! She just wouldn't let up on wanting to know his name and everything about him. Even though, she hadn't gotten anywhere, he still felt exposed and raw whenever she looked at him.

Maybe it was the fact that she was naïve enough to allow a complete stranger into her home and not know anything about the world she'd unknowingly put herself into. She was so pure and untainted by the media and shit that had been going on throughout the world for the past fifteen year that it amazed and captivated him. But… that couldn't be it. There was more to it, but he didn't know what.

Shaking his head clear it of his thoughts, he saw her slip into the tree line and out of sight. Maybe he just needed some sleep. Or a shower. Glancing down at himself, he realized how sloppy and bedraggled he looked. His tuxedo pants were lined and creased and his white tuxedo shirt was a limp, wrinkled mess. Frowning, he headed for his 'room' and the conjoining bathroom to take a hot shower and air out his clothes.

"Inuyasha, you're loosing you touch," he muttered as he shed his clothes.

The hot water beat against his tanned skin and tense muscles. He sighed and closed his eyes. The rhythmic drumming of water on skin was lulling him into a calming, black numbness. He'd deal with his Kagome Higurashi problem later.

X

"Where the hell could he be?" the pudgy, red-face chief of police growled, punching the wall with his fist.

"W-well, we're n-not sure… sir," the jumpy detective squeaked, ducking beneath a folder when Chief McGuiness slammed his fist on his desk angrily.

"That's not an excuse, Smalls! The press is all over our asses on this one and we don't have a few months to look for this rich brat! I want results, damn it! Call every fuckin' Motel 6 on the fuckin' continent and find out where he is!"

Detective Smalls bobbed his head meekly and darted from the Chief's office. The Chief sighed and sat down in his squeaky, uncomfortable chair and punched his desk again in frustration. Why him? Why did this kind of stuff always seem to happen to him?

X

Miroku and Sango had been tandem-calling hotels all around the New York district and still they weren't any closer to their goal than they had been that morning when they found out about Izayoi's death. Miroku clicked off the phone and flopped onto the couch. Sango looked up from the magazine she was reading expectantly. Miroku just shook his head.

"Nothing. Inuyasha Taisho isn't hiding out in any hotel or resort in New York or Brooklyn," he said wearily.

Sango's face fell and she set her magazine aside.

"Miroku, where could he be then?"

"I don't know, Sango. I really don't know."

The two simultaneously sighed. Things were starting to get difficult. What if he was never found?

X

Across town, Kagome had returned from her solitary walk through the woods and No Name/Inuyasha had finished his shower. Now, Kagome was making dinner for the two and trying in vain to pry information from the tight-lipped young man.

"Why won't you tell me?" she whined for the fifty-thousandth time.

"Because you don't need to know, wench!"

"That's not an excuse, mister," she said sternly, pointing a wooden spoon at him, her free hand firmly situated on her hip. "Now just tell me. I'm not going to get mad at you or anything like that. I just want to know."

"I'm still not telling you," he said, sticking his nose in the air and crossing his arms snottily.

"I just don't understand why you won't tell me. I mean, it couldn't be a _bad_ thing to know what to call you. Unless…" she whirled around and pointed a shaking finger at him in mock horror. "You're some crazy serial killer that preys upon unsuspecting, beautiful, young women by befriending and then continually raping them until they die and you're running from the authorities, aren't you!"

She gasped and clutched at her heart, falling back against the granite counter in a faint. Inuyasha couldn't help but laugh at her theatrics. She really was one of a kind. Kagome stayed there for a few seconds before springing back up and returning to making dinner with a grin in his direction.

"Really, I don't mind you staying here for a few days, but at least knowing your _name_ would put my mind at ease. Besides, I don't know anything about you and I had never seen you before yesterday when you just showed up in Benny's taxi. I highly doubt I would recognize you by your name," she reasoned, twirling her wooden spoon around to emphasize her point, not even glancing back at him. "Right?"

Inuyasha just shook his head. 'You have no idea…'

Not receiving a response, she turned her head to glance back at him. He didn't say anything and showed no sign of yielding. Kagome sighed and decided to propose a compromise.

"Okay, fine. How about a nickname or something. It doesn't even have to be remotely related to your actual name. Just give me _something_!"

She was getting desperate. Inuyasha smirked. She asked for it…

"Alright," he said with a sigh. "I give up. Just call me…"

Kagome smiled and turned around eagerly. Inuyasha paused and watched the tension mount on her face and shoulder. This was going to be good…

"Aquaman."

Kagome's face fell and she gave an angry shriek. Inuyasha laughed as she chased him from the kitchen and through the halls. She yelled curses and names at him, throwing her wooden spoon and both of her shoes at his head. Inuyasha just laughed harder and sped up.

"Hey, wench," he called back at her with a grin. "Those aren't very _Christian_ things to say!"

Kagome just screamed and started yelling at him in Swahili. Inuyasha glanced back for just a second and nearly fell over laughing. The next few days would certainly be very… interesting for the two…

X

Somewhere else in the busy city, the composed talent agent was sipping his coffee in his dark top-floor office. No light penetrated the gloomy room, but he could see everything with perfect clarity.

"Kagura," he purred, his velvety voice sending shivers down his assistant's graceful and poised back.

"Yes, my lord, Naraku?"

"Any news on the whereabouts of our elusive star?"

Kagura gulped almost inaudibly, but his keen eyes caught the action.

"No, my lord, Naraku. Hasigawa and Koji have found nothing at Taisho's apartment and the police are only running around in circles, tripping over their own feet."

Naraku's eyes narrowed to tiny red slits. "And what about the Higurashi estate? I'm very interested in the goings on of the old woman's will. Have they found it?"

"The Higurashi brat just arrived yesterday and is currently setting up house in the mansion. Her lawyers have produced a will and yours are right now going over a copy," she replied

"Will we possess it by the end of the week?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kagura nodded, knowing her master would see it. "Without a doubt."

Naraku grinned. "Good."

E

_There's not much else to say. The next chapter should be out soon, depending on how much computer time I have over the next week. Has anyone ever heard of those _Magic Bullet_ blender/chopper/purée-er/dicer/whatever-the-heck-you-can-think-of-to-do-with-food things? They're so COOL! I just found out that we've had on for a month or so and we pulled it out today. I love that thing! Well, until next time, everybody! – Hope Swings_


	3. Chapter 3

**Love Is Blind**

**Chapter Three**

Kagome fell asleep that night slightly satisfied. She eventually caught up with Inuyasha and had made sure he wouldn't make fun of her again. But her peaceful sleep was quickly invaded by dark shadows and cries of anguish and pain. The dreams had plagued her since she was eight or nine, but they had gone away for a few years and she'd thought she had gotten rid of them. And this time, they were even worse than she remembered.

"_Kagome, get out of here! Run!" her mother's voice called from further down the dark hallway._

_An eight-year-old Kagome glanced quickly back at the direction her mother's voice had come from. She was disoriented and scared, frozen in place. Suddenly, there was an explosion and a billowing cloud of orange flames and smoke threw her backward and into a small table, knocking a vase of flowers to the floor._

_Scrambling to her hands and knees, she looked around frantically, searching for any sign of her mother. Flames licked up the walls and ate away at doors and furniture. Smoke filled the hallway thickly, burning her eyes and scratching her throat. Coughing overcame her small frame and she curled up into a small ball, pressing her face to the ground for cleaner air. _

_Pained cries filled the whole building and more explosions could be heard on other floors. Kagome shuddered and covered her ears with her tiny hands, screaming and pleading for everything to just go away. But nothing worked. The screams still filled the air and the smoke still invaded her lungs and she and her family were still trapped in the burning building about to die._

_Die… Kagome opened her large eyes at that one word echoing in her head. Die… No. She didn't want to; she wasn't ready to; it wasn't her time to… Taking a shallow breath, she pushed herself up to her hands and knees and began crawling down the hall, her eyes fixed solely on the space in front of her. Death was not an option. She would get through this and she would survive and she would live on to die at an old age of natural causes. It was not her destiny to die in this burning, charring coffin. It wasn't._

_She didn't know how she had gotten outside, but the next thing she knew, she was outside the building, gulping in clean, fresh air like a fish that was returned to its bowl, staring at the flames that had completely engulfed the structure. The huge orange tongues lapped at the black sky, belching out noxious black smoke. The cries that still reverberated in her ears had died down in the building, leaving the crackling and popping of the gigantic bonfire the only sound, it's horrible symphony imprinting itself on her memory. But after a few minutes, the sound of loud, crass sirens drew closer and a man in a paramedic's uniform carried her away to an ambulance to be hooked up to an oxygen mask and tank. But still she stared at the flames, their savage beauty reflecting in her glassy eyes._

The sound of beings stirring and waking drifted into her room, slowly rousing her from slumber. Flashes of her nightmare still lingered at the forefront of her mind as she stared unseeingly at the ceiling. Yes, it was a nightmare. Perhaps not the kind that had your heart beating wildly and you starting awake with a scream leaping from our lips, but it was a nightmare nonetheless. She'd stared at those flames for hours it seemed like, the beautiful destroyer wistfully haunting her. Her silent, secret terror would be the end of her one day, but for now… She sighed and shook her head, slipping out of her bed. For now she wouldn't dwell on it.

Dressing quickly, she padded down to the kitchen, smile firmly in place. Perhaps No Name was in a better mood and she could feed off of him… With a soft snort, she grinned and shook her head. Yeah, right!

X

Inuyasha was _not_ in a happy mood that morning. For one thing, that blasted girl had caught up to him the night before and practically broke his ribs when she'd tackled him to the hard, marble floor. She'd also locked him in his room, preventing him from doing… whatever she thought he was going to do… So he'd spent half the night trying to pick the lock… unsuccessfully… He'd eventually broken the door down, meaning that she would throw a fit about it… But then… when he'd finally escaped, he had been passing her room on his way to the kitchen for a late night snack when he'd heard it.

She'd been whimpering in her sleep. It was that soft, childish sound of sheer terror that he knew very well. He had cried out like that when he was little and afraid for his mother… But why was _she_ doing that? He'd spent a few good minutes just standing in her doorway listening and watching her. She looked so different when she was sleeping. Innocent, yes, but she was far from peaceful as most people say you're supposed to look when you're sleeping. She looked… tragically beautiful and young at the same time… Kind of like how he imagined Sleeping Beauty to look when his mother used to read him old fairy tales.

But after a while, the whimpering just stopped. She just laid still and fell silent. The slight frown on her face didn't leave, but everything about her just seemed to gently freeze. And that was what struck him the most. Lying there, motionless and silent, she seemed inhuman and untouchable. Like the celebrities he was surrounded by all the time and drowned in, suffocated in. He'd stayed because she wasn't like them and reminded him of his mother, but now… he wasn't so sure. He'd stayed up all night, desperately hanging on the doorframe, watching like a hawk to see if she would move or make any sort of sound to put his mind at ease. But she hadn't. And that was why he was not in a happy mood.

"Good morning!" she said cheerfully as she strode into the kitchen with a bright smile on her face.

Inuyasha just glowered. Kagome giggled and patted him on the head on her way to the refrigerator, to his great displeasure. She hummed softly as she bent at the waist and scoured the shelves for something to make for breakfast, shaking her derriere to the rhythm absently, oblivious to the silver-haired man's sudden attention to her backside.

His jaw dropped at her behavior. Not only because she was acting as if everything was perfect with the world, but also because of her body language. It was so innocent and most likely unintentional, but it was one of the cutest and possibly sexiest things he'd ever seen. Until that moment, he'd thought of her as a Bible-toting prude that had basically lived as an African Amish girl for most of her life and had been fine with that image. But now… now he realized one very simple fact that was a complete contradiction to how he'd previously viewed her: she had a _very_ nice ass.

X

Later that day, Kagome was digging through her backpack in search of her photo album. Her parents and grandparents were in there, as well as her friends from the village. Her nightmare had made her suddenly homesick and she wanted to be reassured by their smiling faces and loving eyes. Her hand finally closed around the cover and she yanked it free with a sigh of relief. She'd started to panic when she couldn't find it right away.

"Okay…" she breathed as she opened it to well-worn pages filled with pictures and notes. "Hi everybody…"

She sat cross-legged on the floor of her room and flipped through the album's pages, a gentle smile on her face. Each page brought back a slew of memories, most good and a few painful, but she loved each and every one of them. The hours passed by and she remained in her little world, completely oblivious to the silver-haired young man who watched her from her open doorway with a befuddled and slightly envious look on his face.

X

The cell phone in Miroku's pocket rang, vibrating against his leg and effectively scaring the crap out of him. He jumped and hopped around as he fished it out of his pocket before finally flipping it open and placing it up to his ear. Sango just stared at him flatly the whole time. How did her partner come to be such a spazz?

"Koji here!" he breathed into the phone. He listened intently to the person on the other line before nodding with an unreadable expression on his face. After a few minutes, he finally said, "Okay, fine," and hung up.

Turning to Sango, he placed his phone in his pocket again with his lips pressed together in a thin line and his forehead creasing in a frown. Sango just gave him a quizzical look, abandoning the folding she was doing to put Inuyasha's house back to the way it was. Miroku just shook his head and sighed.

"What is it?" she asked uncertainly, coming to stand beside him.

"That was Kagura," he said seriously. "Naraku is getting impatient. We have until the end of Saturday to find Inuyasha."

Sango sighed as well and folded another shirt as a tense silence settled over the room. They remained that way for a few more minutes, Sango folding clothes and Miroku standing in the middle of the room staring intently at the carpeted floor. Finally, Sango gathered up the pile of laundry she had accumulated and placed them in the drawers on the other side of the room. Shutting the last drawer, she turned to her partner with a sigh. Miroku glanced up at her and she gathered up her purse and coat.

"Well, let's get this over with," she said slowly, exchanging a brief look with the dark-haired man before leaving the apartment. Miroku sighed as well and shook his head, following closely on her heels and shutting the front door behind him. This was going to be a long couple of days…

X

Inuyasha sat in the kitchen, his elbows resting against the marble countertop of the bar. His small silver cell phone sat on the cool, smooth surface in front of him currently silently engaging him in a halfhearted, one-sided staring contest. He knew they were looking for him. He'd been all over the tabloids for the last three years, ever since that first big movie. But if they were really looking for him like he suspected, why hadn't those idiot assistants of his or that bastard of a manager tried to call him? His cell phone was always on his person and they knew that. So then why…?

Suddenly, the small device began vibrating and bouncing around on the counter. Gingerly picking it up, he stared at the caller ID for a moment before snapping it open. Finally! He was beginning to think that he was going insane with the lack of calls from the lecher!

"What d'you want, pervert?" he grunted into the phone, not bothering with formalities.

"Where are you?" the voice of Miroku Koji yelled into the speaker pressed against his ear.

"Took you long enough to call, huh?" Inuyasha stated amusedly.

"Well, I couldn't get away long enough to attempt at contacting you. Sue me. But tell me where the fuck you are before I go bananas from worrying for your welfare!"

Inuyasha tisked. "Language, lecher, language. And get away from whom? Sango? I highly doubt she would care about this."

"Sango cares about her job, you asshole! As do I! But I'm just a little bit more concerned with my best friend at the moment, who just so happens to be the only thing keeping me from getting fired. So, where the hell are you? If we don't bring you back home safely by Saturday, then Sango and I are as good as dead!"

"Jeeze, calm down, you spazz. I'm fine and I don't need to be rescued or babysat."

"I'm not worried about you competency to survive!"

"Well that's good to hear. Look, I appreciate your concern and all, but I'm not coming back for a while. Call it soul searching or a long needed break – I don't care. I'll come back when I fucking want to come back!"

"But, Inuyasha, you don't under –"

"Bye, Miroku! See you when I come back!"

And with that, Inuyasha snapped the cell phone shut and tossed it carelessly on the counter. Now that that was taken care of, he could peacefully return to mooching off of Kagome's hospitality. Inuyasha sat back on the tall bar stool he was perched upon with a self-satisfied smirk. But then his cell phone fell over the side of the counter and landed with a wet 'plop' in the full sink of soaking dishes…

X

Kagome skipped down the hall towards the kitchen, humming softly to herself. She had gotten bored and figured she could bug No Name to amuse herself. And knowing No Name, he was most likely in the kitchen… Kagome shook her head and smiled at that thought. Knowing No Name…? She _didn't_ know No Name. But then again, for the time that she had spent with him, he'd been in the kitchen whenever she went looking for him.

She came to the door that led to the kitchen but paused when she heard voices on the other side. With a puzzled frown, she pressed her ear quietly against the door to hear better. Maybe if she listened in, she could find out a little bit more about her mysterious houseguest…

"Well that's good to hear. Look, I appreciate your concern and all, but I'm not coming back for a while. Call it soul searching or a long needed break – I don't care. I'll come back when I fucking want to come back!"

Well that was definitely No Name. Who else was staying in the house with her? Besides, she would know his voice anywhere. Kagome held her breath and pressed her ear harder against the door.

"Bye, Miroku! See you when I come back!"

Miroku? Who was Miroku? Kagome stepped away from the door, wondering if she should intruded on No Name's time alone any longer… Just then, she heard a small crash and No Name yelping out a string of curses. Shrugging, Kagome decided to go ahead – he was thoroughly distracted with something already, so he wouldn't suspect anything.

Pushing the door open, she plastered on a bright smile, acting as if she had just come bustling down the hall and not listening in on No Name's private phone calls… No Name was standing over the sink, elbow-deep in soapy water and dishes. Now that was something she never thought she would ever see in her life.

"Oh! You're doing the dishes! That's great, thank you!"

No Name looked up startled as she crossed the kitchen. "What? No, I'm not –"

Kagome laughed. "Oh, don't be silly! I really do appreciate it. Now I can get a head start on dinner and not have to worry about what dishes I can use. Thanks so much!"

No Name stared at her with a gaping mouth. She didn't honestly… Finally closing his mouth he shrugged. Why not? She _was_ letting him stay here free of charge and had been doing everything for him.

"No problem," he muttered, ducking his head.

Slim hands came into his vision right then and disappeared into the sudsy water, effectively startling him. He looked up to find Kagome standing next to him, smiling up at him as she withdrew a plate. She reached for a sponged and began to scrub at the plate gently, her focus solely on the task at hand.

"Wha –" he stuttered.

Kagome just giggled. "I knew you weren't doing this voluntarily, silly!" she said, nudging him in the side with her elbow. "I'll do it; you can go off and do whatever you want."

No Name stared at her for a moment, stunned. She honestly thought he wasn't going to clean the dishes? Well, he wasn't going to, but he'd changed his mind. He was _going_ to do these dishes!

"No, I was –"

Kagome glanced up at him, cutting off his next words before they even reached his tongue. The look she was giving him… She looked so much like his… mother, right then. Kagome broke their eye contact and turned back to the sink full of dishes.

"Really?" she asked disbelievingly before shrugging noncommittally. "Okay. I believe you, No Name. But I'm still going to help out. I need something to do anyway."

No Name just stared at the curve of her ear in disbelief. Who was this person? Kagome glanced up when he didn't respond and giggled lightly before bumping him with her hip.

"Come on! You said you were going to do the dishes, so why don't you?"

No Name shook his head to clear it and turned back to the dishes in the sink, mimicking her previous actions. Kagome smiled up at him again and began washing dishes herself; missing the look No Name had given her from the corner of his eye. She began humming softly again as they fell into the groove of dishwashing, once again attracting the attention of her companion.

She mystified him. How could she be so pure and happy all the time? Everything was so simple with her, even though the situation she had put herself in was far from simple. She captivated him, she really did. She had to have seen horrible things in her life; the incident from the previous night was testament to that. Africa was one of the most depressing places in the world right now, after all. And yet she didn't consciously display any affect the things she was bound to have seen in anything she did around him. She really was a truly amazing person and he felt awed and honored to be around her. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone…

"Hey, No Name," Kagome broke the comfortable silence between them, turning slightly to face him better.

"Inuyasha," he cut her off.

"…What?" she asked, a startled expression coming over her face as she took a small step back.

"Inuyasha," he repeated, closing the distance between them with a step of his own. "Call me Inuyasha."

"Inuyasha…" she breathed, rolling his name off her tongue slowly, savoring how it sounded out in the open.

Inuyasha just nodded before leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers. Kagome stiffened beneath his touch for a moment before exhaling slowly through her nose and relaxing, letting the moment take control. Inuyasha smirked before pulling back and returning to the dishes. Kagome stood there for a moment, catching her breath before smiling slightly and going back to the half empty sink.

"Well," she said after a few silent minutes. "That was… nice." Inuyasha smirked down at the bubbly sink again. "But I was just going to ask what you wanted for dinner."

The silver-haired man gave her a sidelong glance before shaking his head and grabbing her hand beneath the soapy water. "You talk too much," he muttered before claiming her lips again, the dishes in the sink forgotten.

E

_Uh… yeah. A little cheesy, but I haven't done this kind of scene yet and I just felt the impulse to write it. Seriously, none of my stories have gotten very far in the whole romance section ('cause all stories have to involve some sort of romance) since I've been more concerned with building up characters and instances and background information. It feels good to write cheesy stuff for once. And honestly, I wasn't planning on this at all. Things should be speeding up a little after this, so be prepared for more action and whatnot. I'm not making any promises though, incase I don't hold true to my words. There _is_ a plan for this whole thing though. Well, Happy New Year everybody! Until next time! – Hope Swings _


	4. Chapter 4

**Love is Blind**

**Chapter Four**

Kagome smiled as she sat on the deck overlooking the expansive back yard and forest line, taking a bite from her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It'd been a wonderful two days with Inuyasha. Ever since he'd told her his real name, they'd been practically inseparable. After that night, she'd decided that, since they needed something to do while she waited for the meetings with the lawyers, they should probably clean out the rooms that weren't being used and make the mansion look more… lived in and better kept after years of neglect.

So over the past two days, she and Inuyasha cleared out locked rooms and sifted through piles of old furniture and clothes from the many generations of Higurashis that had lived there. They dusted and vacuumed and washed tirelessly with few breaks. And the whole time, they became closer and closer, opening up to each other more than they had with any other person.

"Hey," Inuyasha said as he came out, two glasses of lemonade in his hands.

"Hi," she greeted with a smile while he handed her a glass and sat down beside her.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, gazing out at the sunny afternoon around them. Kagome sighed happily and leaned back on his shoulder, closing her eyes contentedly. Inuyasha just slung his arm over her shoulders as he drank from the cool glass.

He really was happy here. The simplicity of the girl beside him and the way she lived her life put him at ease and made him forget about the troubles in his life outside of the mansion and her smile. And he knew how cheesy that sounded, but he didn't care. The characters that he had played in movies and had seen portrayed on screens his whole life claimed to feel this impossible emotion and the effects it had on their mentality to do strange things and he'd always scoffed at the idiocy of it all. But now he understood the true personality of it, and it'd only taken four days in a whole lifetime of study and portrayal.

Glancing down at the top of her head, he smiled softly and gently shook her shoulder to gain her attention. "Hey, it's your turn."

Kagome smiled up at him for a moment before turning to look back at the scenery thoughtfully. "Um…" she hummed in contemplation over what to ask. She already knew his favorite color – red – and his middle name – Sato, after his mother's maiden name – she also knew that he had a fear of spiders from the time when his older _half_ brother had dropped a tarantula on his head when he was seven. What else did she want to know?

"Got any birthmarks?" she blurted without thinking.

Inuyasha just quirked an eyebrow at her question. Well that was… random… Kagome blushed and refused to meet his gaze.

"Does that include scars and/or interesting spots or just birthmarks?"

Kagome's head whipped around to stare at him in shocked confusion. He shrugged noncommittally. "Just clarifying."

Kagome gulped. "It's…" clearing her throat, she realized how dry her mouth and throat had become. "It's up for interpretation," she squeaked.

Inuyasha grinned and thought about it for a minute. A feeling of trepidation crept into the pit of her stomach as what she'd asked fully dawned on her. 'Dear Lord what have I done?' That one question was like opening Pandora's box. Before when they'd played this game, it was superficial and a means of seeing who would crack first. Now, they were getting to know each other on another level. That one question could take them in any number of directions and Kagome wasn't so sure she wanted to go into any of them.

"Now the other point of clarification I'm going to be needing," he said, a mischievous light sparking in his eyes, "is whether or not I'll be required to show you…"

If possible, Kagome's blush darkened and she ducked her head to stare wide-eyed at the wrought-iron bench she was seated upon. Taking a shaky breath, she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.

"Nope. Nope, I don't need to see them."

Beside her, Inuyasha let out a mock-disappointed sigh. "Aw, shucks. And I really wanted to show you, too…"

Kagome peaked an eye open to gaze at him sideways. Seeing his teasing smile, she let out the breath she'd been holding and sat up, both eyes now open. Inuyasha just nudged her in the ribs jokingly.

"Well, I do have one. It's one my lower back right in the middle. But you don't want to see it, so that's all I'm going to say about it. My turn!"

Kagome's face fell. That was it? He wasn't even going to tell her what it looked like, if it looked like anything at all? The jerk! Well, she wasn't going to let him see that she wanted to know more about the mysterious birthmark. She wouldn't help to inflate his already enormous ego.

"Ever gone skinny dipping?"

"_What_?"

Kagome leapt up and began to beat him over the head with her shoe. That was an inappropriate question and he knew it. He was just trying to get a reaction out of her. And boy did he get one.

"Hey, quit it! C'mon, Kagome it was just a joke! Ow! Stop! Ow! Kagome!"

X

Later that night, the pair received a phone call.

Kagome hopped up from the kitchen table and skid in her socks across the tiled floor in front of the telephone mounted on the wall. Inuyasha just shook his head and went back to his dinner. 'Where are we getting all this food anyway? We never leave the house… This food's really good though. Kagome's a good cook…'

"Hello?" Kagome said into the mouthpiece of the phone's headset. She'd been expecting a call for a few days. Her grandmother's will was supposed to be read soon and the family lawyers were going to notify her of what was going on as soon as possible.

"_Hello, is this Miss Higurashi_?" an unfamiliar voice answered on the other line.

"Yes, this is she. May I ask who's calling please?" Kagome twirled the phone chord around her finger absently, turning away from the rest of the room.

"_This is Alan Rosnick. I am on the chair that is reviewing the late Mrs. Higurashi's last will and testament. I believe one of my associates spoke with you before you arrived in town_." His stoic business-like tone made her frown slightly. This was one of her family's lawyers? How impersonal and cold…

"Um, yes. Do you have news about my grandma's will or whatever?"

"_The will's hearing will take place tomorrow afternoon. Will you be available_?"

Kagome glanced over her shoulder. Inuyasha was still eating, but he looked up to meet her gaze, eyebrow raised and a piece of lettuce hanging from his mouth. She had to pull the phone away and cover the mouthpiece because of the laughter bubbling up her throat.

"Oi, what's so funny?" he called, the lettuce falling and landing on the front of his shirt and sliding into his lap, leaving a trail of salad dressing.

Kagome just laughed harder and flapped her hand at him when he gave her a confused look. It took her a minute to catch her breath and calm down before she could put the phone to her ear again. Mr. Rosnick was obviously a little miffed at being ignored by the young woman.

"_Hello? Miss Higurashi? Are you still there? Are you able to come tomorrow afternoon to the hearing of your grandmother's last will and testament_?"

"Oh! Yes, sorry. I was distracted for second there…" she said sheepishly, spinning around to stick her tongue out at the man sitting at her table who glared right back.

"_I see_," was the bland reply.

"Yeah, so anyway, tomorrow afternoon? Around what time and where?" she asked, grabbing a notepad and pen.

"_If you would just be prepared to leave around two o'clock, we will send a car to pick you up_."

"Oh, okay… Do I need to wear anything specific?" She wrote down '2:00!' and cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder, pen at the ready to write down more information.

Mr. Rosnick gave a flat reply before wishing her a swift 'Good night' and hanging up. Kagome just shrugged and replaced the headset on the cradle. Humming softly, she returned to her dinner to discover that Inuyasha had finished it and slunk off before she could discover what he'd done and retaliate. Heaving a frustrated sigh, she cleared the dishes and set them in the sink to soak before grabbing an apple and retreating to her room for the rest of the night. See if she paid any attention to him for the rest of the night after he stole the rest of her food.

X

Kagura put the receiver back down on its charger after turning it off. She turned to the shadowed figure behind the desk that was waiting expectantly for her report.

"The old woman's will is being read tomorrow afternoon," she said, inspecting her fingernails.

"Anything else?" Naraku's rich voice inquired from his concealed place in front of her.

"Hasigawa and Koji still haven't found any trace of him yet and he hasn't been returning their phone calls."

"They got a hold of him?" her employer asked interestedly.

"A few days ago they made brief contact with him on his cell phone, but he said he wasn't coming back for a while. They haven't been able to reach him since."

"They didn't attempt to call him before then?"

"I guess not. But then again, no one else thought of it either. They were unable to trace the call either because it ended so quickly," Kagura said with a roll of her eyes.

"I see…" Naraku leaned forward on his elbows so that a shaft of light fell on his pale features and dark hair. "Get a hold of his cell phone records. Perhaps we can trace where the last signal his phone gave off was and search around there."

Kagura nodded and turned to leave. His voice stopped her however.

"And Kagura, do not do anything until you've reported to me and I give you further instructions."

"As you wish, my lord." And with that, Kagura slipped out of the room. Naraku allowed a slight smirk to flit across his face briefly before he sat back in his chair and his face was lost to shadow.

E

_Sorry it's taken so long. I've been very, very busy. And it's not even December yet! I'll have no time to sleep next month – my choir schedule is going to be so hectic and time consuming! But I'm really okay with that because it's one of the reasons why I desperately wanted to make the cut for my choir. So anyway, I know it's shorter than past chapters, but I've been struggling a bit with my writing and such lately. I'm already planning the next chapter though, so hopefully that won't take so long… We're almost done! I'm thinking maybe two more chapters until it's completely finished and I can say I have a complete story under my belt. So, 'til next time everyone! Oh, and tomorrow's Veterans' Day, which means no school in honor of people in the military so thanks go out to them! – Hope Swings_


	5. Chapter 5

Love is Blind

**Love is Blind**

**Chapter Five**

Dark eyes skimmed over the figures on the papers in his hands, a sparkle coming into them as he leered down at what he had discovered. Oh the sheer irony of the whole situation was too good to be true! It was amazing how the two people his mind had been on for the past ninety-six hours had more to do with each other than just his thoughts. It was absolutely perfect!

X

"Okay, I'm going to go and be back later. Are you going to be all right here by yourself for the day?" Kagome inquired hesitantly, her hand on the front door knob and head twisted around to receive confirmation from the silver-haired young man standing behind her in the foyer.

"Geeze, just go already! I'm gonna be fine. It's not like I'm an incompetent child; I _did_ survive before you," he crossed his arms and pouted, insulted that she would think such a thing about him but also reluctant to let her go.

Kagome just smiled and opened the front door where a black car was waiting by the curb. "Good to know, Inuyasha! I was worried for a second there. Be good!" As she hurried down the front walkway, she turned around and shouted one more order, "And don't break anything!"

Inuyasha grumbled while he shut the door, knowing that she was beaming back at him. He glanced out the front window to see her bowing a kiss as she got in the back seat of the car. Shaking his head he tried to suppress the smile that was spreading across his face. 'And she calls _me_ childish…'

X

Sango Hasigawa and Miroku Koji were sitting at a small table in the corner of a local coffee shop, empty Styrofoam cups and their cell phones scattered across the table between them. Miroku was sipping from his own mug of green tea while Sango gulped down her fifth cup of coffee. They hadn't gone to their own homes or gotten a wink of sleep for the past three days and Miroku's constant company was wearing his partner down.

Sango slammed her, now empty, cup down on the table and shot a glare at her companion, her foot lashing out under the tiny table to connect with his shin. He winced slightly but otherwise kept drinking away calmly, his eyes slipping closed blissfully.

"Stop playing footsies with me!" Sango hissed, tucking her feet further under her chair. She normally would've insisted on a larger table to put distance between them, but this was the only available table at seven in the morning.

Miroku just flashed her a grin before her phone started ringing, bouncing across the table as it vibrated with each ring. Sango scrabbled to pick it up, but Miroku got to it first. Without checking to see who it was on the display screen, he flipped it open and placed it to his ear.

"Hello, Miroku's Escort Service. If you have a need, I'm the man for the deed. How may I be of assistance?"

Sango choked and began coughing uncontrollably. What in the name of Santa Claus was that man doing? Miroku just grinned and nodded to the person on the other line.

"Mhmm, I see. Well, Sango's a bit busy at the moment – she's got something in her throat apparently. Perhaps I could pencil you in sometime next week? I've got her tied up for the rest of the week…"

At his thinly veiled innuendoes, Sango lunged over the table and pried the phone away from her partner. "Hello? This is Sango Hasigawa."

"Seems like your reserve has finally worn out, Hasigawa," Kagura's voice crackled from over the speaker. "And it's so early in the morning too."

Sango glowered over at the dark-haired man before turning around to focus on what her employer's assistant was saying. "Whatever you think it is, Kagura, it's not. What is it?"

The other woman seemed particularly amused. "Naraku's getting very impatient. But fortunately for you, I know where our little escape artist has been hiding."

Sango's eyes widened at the news. "Really? Where?"

"The Higurashi estate apparently. He should be there alone for most of the day, so feel free to go collect him any time today. Don't screw up."

And with that, Kagura hung up and left Sango staring wide-eyed at her cell phone. She and Miroku had been searching for the past three days. How did Kagura figure out where Inuyasha was?

"Well, my dearest Sango," Miroku said, raising effortlessly from his chair, "how about we go visit our favorite actor?"

Sango sighed and scooped up her purse, slipping her cell phone inside for safekeeping. She stood up and sidestepped Miroku's wandering hands as she headed for the door leading out onto the street. Time to get back to work.

X

Inuyasha lay sprawled on the carpeted floor in the house's living room, staring up at the white ceiling. Kagome hadn't even been gone for twenty minutes and he was bored out of his mind. What was he going to do for the rest of the day?

His eyes slid over to the side where a beautiful pianoforte stood in the corner. He remembered hours slaving away behind a stand-up piano in the lobby of his apartment complex growing up because his mother had wanted him to learn how to play. And he had hated every minute of it.

But… he hadn't touched a piano since he was sixteen… and he had nothing else to do…

Standing up, he carefully sat down in the bench and uncovered the black and white keys. He splayed his fingers and touched them to the smooth enamel, ghosting over them as he went through the motions; allowing his muscles to remember how the notes and chords went before actually playing them. When he finished playing his imagined piano, he hesitated. It was his mother's favorite song and he'd learned it just for her. Maybe… maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

He sighed heavily, leaning forward to rest his head on the top of the large, wooden instrument. It'd been only six days since his mother passed away in the hospital on the other side of town. And he hadn't even been there to say good-bye. The last time he'd seen her in person was almost five months ago when he found out she'd been readmitted because of a relapse. And even then, he had to fight Naraku in order to let him go see her even though she was only a ten-minute taxicab ride away. Guilt had been gnawing at him since he'd left after only a few hours with promises that he would come back to see her when he knew his agent probably wouldn't let him leave because of his micromanaged schedule. And now it was too late.

Standing up abruptly, he stalked down the hall in search of something else to do. He ended up standing in front of Kagome's room. Staring at the wood of the door, he thought back on the girl he'd spent so little time with compared to some of the other people in his life. Yet, she had succeeded in taking his mind off of his mother and his career when no one else had been able to. She had changed his life in only a matter of days…

The door was slightly ajar from when she left it this morning dressed in a slate-gray skirt and blazer with a light blue button-up shirt peaking out underneath. Pushing at it gently, he slipped into the room and sat down on her still unmade bed. Sighing, he leaned back, pillowing his head with his arm and stared at the large painting hanging on the opposite wall.

It depicted a young family, posed with the mother sitting in a high-backed chair with red velvet-covered cushions holding a small toddler in her lap, her husband standing behind her with his hand on her shoulder and a young girl leaning against the armrest of her mother's chair. It was done in masterful oils although none of them were smiling even though it was painted only a few decades ago when capturing a smile wasn't that impossible. But the artist had been skilled enough to capture the happy twinkles in their eyes and the relaxed lines of their faces and body language. They looked regal but not imposing, businesslike but still personal.

Inuyasha could tell that it was Kagome's family. It was painted quite a while ago based on the style of formal clothing they were wearing and the fact that the girl looked like a much younger version of Kagome, maybe about six- or seven-years-old. Thinking back on it, he realized that she'd never mentioned any of the other three people in the family portrait; she'd mentioned her grandparents and Africa, but not her parents or the little boy he assumed was her younger brother.

It was obvious that she'd lived in the United States at some point in time. And this was her family's old home. The décor of the room she had chosen to stay in was sophisticated yet simple. It was homey and had a lived-in feel to it, but it still looked like a guest bedroom compared to some of the other rooms that they concluded were her grandparents' and great-grandparents' main rooms when they had lived in the estate. But this wasn't _her_ room. There hadn't been any rooms that looked like they had belonged to any children in the past thirty years or so and Kagome had no idea where anything really was in the whole place, so it was safe to say that she'd never lived here except for perhaps visits before she lived in Kenya.

Frowning, all Inuyasha could deduce was that the people in the picture were Kagome's immediate family and that they had lived somewhere other than the estate before she became a missionary with her grandparents in Africa. Beyond that, he had no idea what had happened to them and why she never mentioned them. Shrugging, he figured he'd just ask her when she came home. She'd probably tell him if he timed it right and she was in a good mood.

Sighing, he threw an arm over his eyes. Now to find something to do for the rest of the day until Kagome came home… Maybe there was something in the refrigerator and that TV they'd uncovered in one of the dens still worked. He was wondering how the world was coping without him…

X

Kagome glanced nervously around the conference room full of older men in starched designer business suits feeling extremely out of place among them. Lifting the glass of water she'd been offered upon arrival, she sipped compulsively, managing to still appear dainty and ladylike as well as not drain the glass in two seconds. It was one of her nervous tics along with chewing her nails and popping her knuckles. This seemed the safest considering she just looked like she was really thirsty, sipping her water every few seconds while she gripped the glass with both trembling hands, instead of fidgeting in her chair and acting like a nervous wreck.

They were waiting to start the reading and transferring of assets. She'd arrived early to meet briefly with the family lawyers, but they were supposed to start twenty minutes ago. No one had told her what was going on or why they hadn't started yet, mainly because no one had really spoken to her since she got there forty-five minutes ago. This was getting really awkward for her and anxiety was beginning to make her throat tighten and her head start to swim. She could only hope that as soon as they got started that this would go by really fast so she could return to the estate and spend the rest of the day with Inuyasha.

Just then, a man with dark hair and sharp, calculating eyes set in an unusually pale face entered the room, a very attractive woman in a business suit and ankle breaking stilettos trailing after him, her red-painted lips quirked in a perpetually arrogant smirk. The soft hum of hushed conversations halted abruptly when the pair entered and the atmosphere became cold and even more uncomfortable for Kagome than it had been before. The mysterious man gazed impassively around the room before sitting down at one of the chairs around the conference table, the woman moving to the seat on his left.

With an almost imperceptible nod from the dark-haired man, the rest of the room erupted into a flurry of motion as the other occupants pounced on chairs and straightened folders and shuffled stacks of loose-leaf papers. Kagome stared around with wide, dazed blue eyes at all the commotion. As soon as everyone was settled in their seats, Mr. Alexander, the head lawyer in charge of her family's finances stood up, signaling the beginning of a very long day.

X

Naraku watched on disinterestedly as the crusty old lawyers argued over what was stated in the old woman's will and what her granddaughter had just said. Apparently, she had no interest in staying in New York and living in her family's mansion. The starving children of Africa were more important to the little brat than the estate that had been in her family for three generations. How… touching.

His dark eyes drifted lazily to observe the young heiress sitting across from him, her hands wrapped around the glass of water she'd been drinking from obsessively since the reading had started. Her hands were trembling ever so slightly and her knuckles were white from the grip she had on the large glass goblet. She looked nervous and just a hint of fear glimmered in her large blue eyes as they shifted around the table, attempting to keep up with the rather heated argument. He would admit she was an attractive little thing, in an innocently naïve way. Not exactly his "type" but she certainly was pleasant to look at. Maybe after he was done tearing her world apart by the end of this meeting the two of them could get together and have a little… fun.

He decided then was a good time to break up the slightly dignified yelling match. Lackadaisically, he raised a hand, gaining the attention of the young heiress and the few others that were not thoroughly engrossed in screaming in each other's faces. "If I may be so bold as to interject for a moment," he said evenly, causing the arguing lawmen to freeze mid-shout and turn towards his voice. 'Yes,' he thought with a miniscule smirk, 'it's good to have power over others…'

Old Mr. Alexander cleared his throat loudly while he adjusted his tie. "Yes, Mr. Onigumo? What is it you wished to bring to the council's attention?"

Naraku quietly snorted at the man's choice of words. He was making it seem as if "the council" actually got along in order to make important decisions. Instead of mentioning his observations on the matter, he simply said, "Wouldn't it seem fit to ask Miss Higurashi what exactly she wished to accomplish by coming to New York to speak with you and your colleagues?"

The room was quiet as the white-haired old man thought his suggestion over. Across the table, Miss Higurashi offered him a wobbly smile of thanks. Naraku just turned his head away to hide his predatory smirk. They were all playing right into his hands.

At the head of the table, Mr. Alexander nodded his slightly-bald head. "That is an excellent proposal Mr. Onigumo. Thank you."

"My pleasure," Naraku said coolly, darting a glance at the young woman across the table from himself.

"Well, Ms. Higurashi," Old Man Alexander directed his attention to Kagome. "What say you?"

Swallowing thickly, the heiress hastily took a swig of water and fiddled with the rim of her glass. All eyes were on her and she had no idea what to say.

"Well," she began timidly. "I never lived in my grandparents' house until about four days ago when I arrived in New York. When I was little, my parents and I lived in a house in Manhattan while my grandparents lived there. And when I was eight, my grandparents and I moved to Kenya in order to serve the people there. I'm going back after we are done here because I've decided to continue their work."

Taking a deep breath, she turned her eyes up to meet those of "the council". "I know the house is supposed to stay in the family because my grandparents wanted it to be. It's an amazing place and it's so big… it's too big. For me at least. I'm used to living humbly and having such an extravagant place all to myself is too much. I don't want it."

"Well then," one of the council members who was portly and had watery eyes said loudly. "We will just have to sell it. The money will be transferred to the Higurashi account and Miss Higurashi can return to her humanitarian work. All settled."

"Um, I wasn't quite finished," Kagome said softly, cutting off the chatter that had crescendoed after his statement. All eyes zeroed in on her once more with such intensity it nearly knocked the breath out of her. Laying her hands on the table, she leaned forward for support. "I was going to say that instead of keeping the estate for myself, I was hoping to put it to better use."

"Exactly, we'll sell it so that someone else can live there," another council member said incredulously.

Kagome shook her head. "You misunderstand. I don't want to sell my family's estate. I want to use it for something other than a huge building I probably won't come back to on my own."

"What do you propose it be used for, Ms. Higurashi?" Mr. Alexander asked, a bit baffled.

"I want to turn it into a home for other people," Kagome said quietly, a soft smile flitting across her face. "There are enough rooms to house many people and the woods and gardens are perfect to get away from the busy noises of the city. It's a perfect sanctuary."

"A home for whom, exactly, Miss Higurashi," a woman with a harsh bun asked skeptically.

"Well, I was thinking a home for families who have lost their homes to fires and can't support their children, families that have a family member in the hospital and can't pay the mortgage – much less the hospital bills – or single-parent families that are struggling to make ends meet because their spouse died and they have no one else to turn to. Perhaps even all of those scenarios. I've been thinking about it the past couple of days while I've been going through the house and realized its potential to be so much more than a big house that no one's lived in for over ten years."

Kagome waited patiently as the men and women around the table thought her proposition over. She really hoped they would agree. She didn't want to sell her family's old home after spending time in it and going through the physical remains of her heritage. But she knew that she couldn't live there alone; Inuyasha wasn't going to stay forever and she had to get back to her home in Kenya. This idea was her solution to everything.

Slowly, heads began to nod around the table and smiles spread across otherwise-stoic faces for the first time that day. Appreciative murmurs whispered through the conference room. Kagome sighed in relief and a weight was lifted off of her shoulders.

"That sounds like a marvelous idea, Ms. Higurashi," Mr. Alexander said warmly as he snapped a stack of papers against the desk to straighten them out. "Your grandparents would be proud."

Kagome smiled slightly and ducked her head bashfully. Mr. Alexander cleared his throat once more and addressed the people around the table once more. "All right then. Now that that is settled, let us proceed with the rest of the will."

Kagome reached for her glass of water once more, this time not out of nervousness. Taking a sip, her eyes traveled up to the mysterious Mr. Onigumo across from her. Instead of the cool business man who had helped her earlier with his suave manners and haughty smirk, his face was twisted into a sneer and the fist upon the table in front of him was clenched tightly, his knuckles bone white. Kagome gasped and hastily set her cup down on the smooth surface of the table, almost spilling the remainder of her water on the stained wood. Mr. Onigumo flashed her a pseudo-sincere look before turning away. Kagome's hands trembled in her lap; not because she'd almost created a pond on the conference table – she had nearly spilt her water because of the expression Mr. Onigumo had been wearing for a split second, the expression he had directed solely at her…

X

Miroku paid the cab driver while Sango stood on the curb and stared up at the large structure. 'Well,' she thought with an amused hint of a smile, 'he sure knows how to pick a hideout.' As soon as Miroku was finished and joined her in front of the Higurashi Mansion, she adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder and strode up the walkway to confront the temperamental actor about his disappearing act.

"Sango!" Miroku yelped as he raced after her. "Wait up!"

Sango just shook her head and rang the doorbell. Miroku caught up with her, leaning his hands on his knees and attempting to catch his breath, as the last chime faded inside the house. Glancing down at her winded partner, she tried to keep the smile from her face but was fairly unsuccessful.

"Wow, Miroku," she giggled out, "you're really out of shape. What happened?"

Miroku just glared up at her, his flushed cheeks puffing out as he inhaled and exhaled. She covered her smile with a hand and turned away, just in time to see the door open to reveal a very startled silver-haired young man in a rumpled pair of tuxedo pants and shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the top couple of buttons undone. He gaped at the duo for a few silent moments at a loss for words. They stared right back at him, waiting for… something to happen and unsure of exactly how to approach what was inevitably going to happen once the shock wore off.

"S-Sango… Miroku…" he stuttered. "W-what are you guys doing here?"

X

It took surprisingly less time to actually read her grandmother's will than it did discussing what would happen to most of her assets since it was impractical for Kagome to take most of what was still in the United States back to Kenya. They determined that the family company would continue to be run by the board of directors as it had been since her grandparents left to become missionaries. However, Kagome proposed creating a new department that would directly work with the independent missions program her grandparents had set up and would help to fund a new hospital and other facilities that were needed desperately.

Meetings to discuss converting her old family home into a functioning home and care center for multiple families as well as the new department were scheduled for the next few weeks. Kagome was now free to return to the house now that everything was settled and taken care of. After the initial start of the hearing and her first proposal, the rest of the afternoon had gone smoothly and she was beginning to feel better about the outcome of coming to New York to settle her grandmother's remaining accounts and the estate.

Walking out of the large conference room, Kagome mused about the strange Mr. Onigumo who had helped her out in he beginning and then become chillingly hostile towards her as the afternoon went on. After the matter of the mansion had been settled, he didn't speak until the hearing was over except for quiet whispered orders to his secretary before leaving abruptly as soon as they were adjourned. She'd been contemplating thanking him for his help, even though his occasional furious glances sent chills up her arms. Still, he'd shown compassion towards her for a few minutes that had been crucial for her to gain her courage and stand up to the council; the least she could do was thank him.

But now he was gone and she probably wouldn't see him ever again. Shrugging, she smiled at the receptionist and skipped over to the elevator. Time to go home and share the good news with Inuyasha.

"Kagome Higurashi," a feminine voice called from somewhere behind her.

Whipping her head around, she saw the secretary who had sat next to Mr. Onigumo earlier that day leaning against an empty desk. She was poised and graceful, even standing motionless in a drab office building. Kagome felt like a scrappy and unrefined high school student compared to her.

"Um, yes? What can I do for you?" she asked politely, turning around to walk up to her.

"Mr. Onigumo would like a word with you before you leave," the woman said blandly, obviously disinterested in what her employer wanted the young heiress for, although her dark eyes twinkled in silent warning.

Kagome caught the subtle look and nodded, plastering a cheerful smile on her face. "Oh, all right then. Where is he?"

The woman slanted a searching glance at her before nodding slightly in acceptance. "Follow me," she muttered before turning and heading towards a dark, supposedly unoccupied office down the hall. Kagome trailed after her curiously, frowning at the woman's back and wondering what was going on.

X

Miroku was the first to recover. "Uh, hey, Inuyasha…" he said, straightening up and scratching sheepishly behind his ear. "Ol' buddy ol' pal…" At the look the young actor-in-hiding gave him, he gave a soft chuckle that trailed off embarrassedly and looked away.

Inuyasha turned to Sango for a more helpful response, one finely sculpted eyebrow quirked questioningly. Sango just stared down at her feet and the faded welcome mat beneath them. What was she supposed to say – "Hey Inuyasha. Sorry to intrude, but it's time to come back to reality and face your mother's funeral plans like a good actor and son"? Yeah, like that would go over well…

Inuyasha sighed and leaned against the doorframe. Well they looked like crap… "Whatever, you'll tell me eventually." They both remained silent and he looked from one to the other. The awkward tension in the air hovered between them and he stood up, moving out of the doorway to allow them to cross the threshold. "Come on in. There's nothing much for me to do today anyway…"

The two assistants walked into the front hall silently and sullenly followed after him as he moved further into the quiet, empty mansion.

X

Stepping into the dark room, Kagome hesitated to let her eyes adjust to the contrast in lighting. Blinking, she spotted darker shadows she assumed were chairs and a desk where a humanoid shadow sat. She could only guess at whom _that_ was…

"Come in, Miss Higurashi; have a seat." Mr. Onigumo's voice flowed through the room to her ears and prickled the sensitive skin on her neck. With a slight shiver, she sat in one of the uncomfortably overstuffed chairs in front of the desk.

X

"So…" Inuyasha began once they were all seated at the kitchen table, bowls of Lucky Charms in front of them. "How'd you find me?"

Sango hastily gulped down the spoonful of cereal she'd just put in her mouth, choking on the un-chewed pieces that caught in her throat. Miroku patted her on the back, purposefully paying careful attention to his choking coworker so as to act like he didn't hear his best friends question. Inuyasha just rolled his eyes and hunched over his bowl, waiting for the two to calm down and get around to answering his questions willingly.

This was honestly getting ridiculous. They'd known each other for years and he knew they were all very close. The only reason they'd be acting like this would be if something were wrong and they were trying to protect him. This was just like the time that he'd been dating that awful pop star and they'd found out she was cheating on him with a back-up dancer and they didn't want to tell him, fearing that he'd be crushed when in reality he'd been about to break up with her anyway.

Dropping his spoon into his bowl, he leveled a steady gaze at the pair and waited for them to stop fidgeting and look him in the eye. It took a minute or two, but they finally did so nervously. Inuyasha shook his head and the corners of his lips turned up slightly. "You know, I'm not going to flay you just because you know something you think I'm going to react badly to. So just get it over with so that we can get on with our lives. Stretching this whole thing out is just going to make it worse."

Sango and Miroku glanced at each other. It would save some time and Inuyasha was known to react better when told directly and not in a roundabout way like they'd been doing. They might as well get it over with…

"Kagura called this morning and told us where you were. Naraku wants you back immediately," Miroku said quietly, not looking him in the eye. Sango was staring down at the few floating cereal pieces in the slightly colored milk left over from the little marshmallow pieces.

Inuyasha nodded and stood up to dump his extra milk in the sink and rinse out his bowl. His assistants watched him carefully, trying to gauge his reaction. He turned on the tap and swished water around in his bowl steadily, all of his focus on his task. Once he was finished, he snagged a dishtowel from the towel bar on the wall beside the over and wiped his hands dry, surveying the kitchen silently.

"You know, I figured you'd come get me sooner or later," he commented without turning around. "Heck, I was hoping sooner for the first few days. But… now I'm kinda wishing it were later."

He turned back around and threw the towel on the counter before sitting down at the table again. Sango and Miroku stared back at him, not really sure what to say to his confession. Questions raced through their minds as they fished for something to say in response. Finally, Sango spoke up.

"Inuyasha… What happened?"

X

"Is there something wrong, Mr. Onigumo?" Kagome inquired once she was seated.

The dark shadow of the man chuckled darkly. "Oh, no. Nothing really. I just wanted to congratulate you on your wonderful negotiation skills. You did very well today going up against so many high-profile lawyers and businessmen when you yourself have no experience in the field whatsoever."

Kagome eyed his silhouette warily. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean, Mr. Onigumo…"

"Please, call me Naraku."

Kagome just nodded slightly. "Naraku then… If you don't mind my asking, is that all? I have somewhere else to be, you see and…"

Naraku waved his hand in airy dismissal. "Oh, it's quite all right. It will just take a moment. You see, I understand completely. Inuyasha can be a very demanding person."

Her breath caught in her throat. How did he know about…?

Naraku chuckled once more as he rose to his feet. "Oh, yes, I know all about your tenant. You see, he is my client. You might say that, as his manager, I know him very… intimately."

X

Inuyasha had just spent the last hour or so relaying the last couple of days to the two rather shocked personal assistants. They now sat at the kitchen table with their jaws stuck to the smooth grain work. Their closed-off, brutish employer had actually fallen in love with a girl in a way that they wouldn't be surprised to discover was the plotline to a chick flick. And Inuyasha refused to touch chick flicks with a thirty-seven foot pole.

Inuyasha stared down at the tabletop in slight embarrassment. He knew what they were probably thinking and even he found it out of character for himself. But despite the blush, another trait that was unusual for him, staining his cheeks, he couldn't help the grin that accompanied it.

Sango was the first to say anything, effectively breaking the silence with a breathy "Wow…" of disbelief. Miroku grinned up at his good friend, obviously forming some lewd comment that Sango would punch him for. But before he could get out the first word, the front door of the house opened and slammed shut.

Inuyasha jumped up, excited that Kagome was home and that he could introduce her to his friends and draw her even further into his personal life outside of the movie business. He caught himself though before he bolted from his chair and skidded out of the kitchen and down the hardwood-floored hallway in his eagerness to see her again. Sango and Miroku already thought he was insane – he didn't need to solidify their newfound assumptions about him. Instead, he leisurely shoved his hands in his pockets and strolled out of the room and down the hall.

Halfway to the front hall, he encountered the woman of the hour… but she did not look happy. Inuyasha hesitated for half a second but shook it off. She couldn't be mad at him – he'd done nothing wrong and she'd been gone all day. It must be something else…

"Hey, Kagome!" he greeted cheerfully, moving to give her a hug. But instead of a hug in return, Kagome dodged out of his arms and swung back before bringing her arm forward and punching him in the jaw.

Inuyasha reeled back in surprise and pain. What–what had he done do deserve _that_?! Staring at the irate woman in shock, he rubbed tenderly at his swelling jaw, unsure of what was going on.

"What kind of a sick jerk are you?!" Kagome yelled in his face, the volume and pitch of her voice increase with each word. "Why would you do this to me?" Tears began to well and swim in her eyes as she glared accusingly up at him.

"Wha…?" he was utterly confused now. What was she talking about?

"Did you think that I wouldn't find out? That a movie star I've never heard of was living with me for the past few days? Do you think I'm that _stupid_?!" she cried, wiping futilely at the hot, angry, ridiculously _embarrassing_ tears that were leaking down her face. She didn't want to cry in front of him – not after the utter humiliation he'd put her through without her even knowing it. It just wasn't fair. Why did she have to develop feelings for him only to fins out he was just playing with her?

Inuyasha was reeling again. "What? No! I just… didn't want you to know because… Well, because–"

"Because you didn't want me to find out about your little 'plan' for my family's estate, right?" she cut him off, not wanting to hear his made up excuses. Naraku had warned her about that. And she wasn't going to listen to anymore of his lies. Not after today.

"Well, guess what, I'm not selling this place! I'm turning it into a home for more deserving people than some spoiled celebrity that wants a new place to show off to fawning fans only to tear it down and build something 'bigger and better' in six months! So you can just take you're selfish, egomaniacal self and _get out of my life_!" And with that, Kagome stormed off, leaving a stunned silver-haired prince of the silver screen in the large foyer with his two personal assistants who'd come to investigate the commotion and had heard most of her rant.

After her words finally sunk in, Inuyasha visibly drooped. She hated him. Not that he understood why, but it was clear how she felt about him.

Miroku strode over and gently clapped him on the shoulder. "Well," he said as cheerfully as possible, "she sure seems as… spunky… as you described."

Sango sprang forward and smacked him across the back of the head. Miroku yelped and stared at her. "What was that for?"

Sango just shook her head. "You're such an idiot, Miroku…" she muttered as she walked over to her employer. She laid a hand on his arm carefully. "Are you okay?"

Inuyasha just nodded his head quietly and glanced discreetly in the direction that Kagome had left in. She was headed toward her room… Miroku and Sango saw the glance but didn't comment. They knew to give the young star his space.

Inuyasha sighed and turned toward the door. "C'mon. We should get out of here."

The two assistants hesitated slightly. He didn't want to try and make up with her? When he talked to them about her they could tell how infatuated he was with her…

"Inuyasha?" Miroku called softly. The actor in question stopped and barely turned his head in acknowledgment. "Are… are you sure?"

The silver-haired young man was silent for a moment before jerking his head in a slight nod and opening the front door. He crossed the threshold with dragging, shuffled steps, his personal assistants in tow. As Miroku called for a cab on his cell phone, attempting to be a quiet as possible, Inuyasha glanced back up at the large mansion forlornly. Even as he entered the cab and they drove away, he still stared at the place he'd spent the past few days in, wishing that the girl who hadn't left his thoughts for four days would come running out and stop the car. But… she didn't. And as they turned the corner and he lost sight of the Higurashi Estate, he knew that she wouldn't.

Back in her temporary room, Kagome was hastily repacking her suitcases while she gasped for air between sobs. She was going back home to Kenya where no handsome, deceptive movie stars could come after her… no matter how much she wished he would…

E

_Final Notes:_

_I think this was the longest chapter of this whole story… Fourteen pages… Shock. Just for the record, I have no concept of the study of law or anything dealing with a person's will and inheritances and stuff like that. So the scene where Grandma Higurashi's will was read is what I've gleaned from movies and stuff. I have no idea if it's true (might not be); so don't get on my case if it's not. I took creative liberties with this. For anyone who cares, this is the last official chapter of Love is Blind. It's been fun writing this as a little piece of improbable and romantic-ish fiction. It's been a pretty entertaining distraction from reality and the crap that's been going on in my life for the past couple years (not that it was bad crap per say, just crap). I honestly didn't think that many people would like it or be so interested in it, but I was really surprised and extremely giddy after every update and saw the feedback to this thing. It was awesome being able to share this with you all. Hopefully I'll be able to continue producing stories that people enjoy reading. Thanks for reading! That's all I ask for. – Hope Swings_


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